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Articles tagged with: books

Preparing for the Gong: Some Great Books

creating a framework for spontaneity

Preparing for the Gong: Some Great Books





The World of Books Has Changed, Part 3

talking back to books, books talk back

The World of Books Has Changed, Part 3

As a young person, I bought into the idea that books were unalterable. I remember lying on the grass for hours  with an eraser, cleaning up my used copy of Herodotus's Histories, not wanting someone else's notes on his Greek or his content, offended that this previous owner had presumed to write on the book!

But in reality, we've been talking back to books for as long as... well, actually, for as long as farming and economies of scale gave us the free time to do so. The root of "scholar" and "school" means...

The World of Books Has Changed, Part 2

redefining "going by the book"

The World of Books Has Changed, Part 2

Back when, books were regarded as authoritative and unchangeable. Difference between one copy and another was "corruption," and scholars would quibble endlessly as to which was the true version.

Hence, "going by the book," "the rule book," "handbook" (which you keep close by so that you know exactly how to do something), "the Authorized version." "Bible" simply means "book," and there are still people who take every word of it literally, and who break out in hives at the idea that there are many more texts that could be legitimately included between its covers.
The static book infects all of our thinking.

What about bookmakers? Perhaps that's a Britishism. Digression:...

The World of Books Has Changed, Part 1

how the modern-day book scene is more like Homer's

The World of Books Has Changed, Part 1

My eleven-year old self assumed as a matter of course that by the time I was a "grown-up" I'd have published several books.  In dark times, I've summoned up her spirit to belabor me because that's not the case.  Would she have been content with the mere handful of poems, essays, book reviews, one or two academic articles, and hundreds of blog posts published?

I appeal to her mercy: things are different now. She'd never heard of the Internet--makes me sound like a dinosaur, and I'm only in my thirties! Even aside from the book-like nature of a good blog, the world of books has changed.

Book Review: A Philosophy of Walking

do more of what you love

Book Review: A Philosophy of Walking




"Mastery"--Two Books, Commonalities

--by Hazrat Inayat Khan, and by Robert Greene

Two books, both titled MasteryOne was written recently, by an American author in his 50s. The other (which I can't find anywhere in the format I own) was written by an Indian Sufi who died in 1926, before he even made 50 years old. One would be classed as "personal development." The other would be shelved in the religious section.

One I've never owned but have borrowed from the library both as audio and print books. The other, I've carried around with me my whole adult life, through all the many places I've lived, starting well before the newer "Mastery" was even written.

One Thing at a Time

One Thing at a Time




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